Chapter 17 – The Humans Fight
Ginger Town was completely deserted, with piles of rubble and exposed wires everywhere. Several fire hydrants continually spouted water. Uub landed in the midst of the wreckage and looked around.
"Oceanus Shenron!" he called. "I know you're here somewhere!"
Hearing a crumbling sound behind him, he wheeled around, only to see a terrified dog scramble out of the rubble and run away. Uub began to feel the water from the fire hydrants sprinkling his feet. He took a step forward...and fell over.
He twisted his head around to look at what happened. His legs were caught in an increasingly solid puddle of water! As the tall form of Oceanus Shenron emerged from the puddle, Uub wrenched himself free and stood up.
"A-hehehehe!" laughed the dragon. The six-star Dragonball glinted in his chest as he shook with mirth. "That was hilarious! I swear, I never get tired of that trick!" He dissolved into laughter again.
Uub watched him for a while, arms folded, expression unchanging. Finally, he interrupted. "What is your problem?" he asked.
Oceanus Shenron stopped laughing. "Sorry," he said. "I forgot that good, upstanding citizens like you have no sense of humor. Fine. Want me to get right to the point? Here it is: I'm going to kill you."
"Why?" asked Uub, still unmoving. "You seem like a fun-loving guy to me. Why kill?"
"Why kill? Why--" He almost started laughing again. "That's the stupidest question I ever heard, kid! What's more fun than killing? Did you see me on the news? Their faces...priceless! HA!" He chuckled for a moment. "Besides," he went on. "The wish that made me who I am doesn't exactly push me away from the whole killing thing. Remember 20 years ago?"
"No," replied Uub.
"No? Well, kid, there was this guy. Majin Buu. And he killed a lot of people. I mean a lot! Man, did everyone get upset about that! So once all those people were brought back, your Shenron granted a wish to make them forget their little horror story. And that," he gave a little flourish and a bow, "is why I'm standing here today."
Uub grinned. "Funny you should mention Majin Buu," he said. "I have some connections with him myself." He kicked off the ground and shot forward, punching Oceanus Shenron hard in the face.
"Oof! Hey, you rotten kid!" yelled the dragon as he spit onto the ground. "So you want to play like that, huh?" He flew forward as well. Uub put up his arms and blocked the strike; he kicked, sending Oceanus Shenron skyward. The monster fired a ki volley at Uub, who batted the blasts away and followed his adversary. Drawing his fist back, he reached Oceanus Shenron in a matter of moments.
He punched, but hit nothing. The dragon had liquified his stomach and spread it apart, creating a hole through which Uub had thrust his hand. Immediately Oceanus Shenron closed up the hole, trapping Uub.
"Nice," he said, punching Uub in the face and kicking him in the stomach. Uub gagged; his enemy released him and hit him with a ki beam, sending him crashing into the wreckage below.
"Ke ke ke ke!" laughed the dragon maniacally.
Uub sprang back onto his feet. Oceanus Shenron noticed, and rushed back down to him. Just before he reached his prey, they both blurred and dissapeared. They reappeared a few yards away, fighting furiously. Uub was landing most of his blows while his enemy grunted in pain.
"Get off me!" yelled the dragon as he dissolved into water, moving from his position and reforming behind Uub. Opening his mouth wide, he expelled a high-pressure jet of water that caught Uub squarely in the back.
"WAAAAAAH!" cried Uub as he flew front-first into the remains of a building, which collapsed upon impact.
Oceanus Shenron swooped down on him again. Uub lashed out with a sudden kick, which caught his foe in the neck, sending him spinning off to the side. Leaping out of the ruins, Uub was surprised to find that the dragon was gone.
He saw the shadow looming over him just in time. He leaped away from the miniature wave and flew backward, keeping one eye on it. Unfortunately, he was completely unprepared for the other wave. Solidifying as soon as he hit, one half of Oceanus Shenron held on tightly to Uub. The other half rejoined, and together they formed a gelatinous ball around Uub. The ball raised itself into the air and shot toward one of the destroyed telephone wires.
Oceanus Shenron's head poked out of the end of the ball. "The second we get to that live wire over there," he said. "I'll release you. We'll see what happens when you're already a little bit wet." He grinned maliciously. "Say hi to my man Buu, when you see him."
Krillin and Yamcha kept up a constant series of ki blasts. Haste Shenron wasn't hit by a single one; every now and then he would stop to head-butt one of them, then take off again. "I don't know what you're trying to accomplish, humans!" called the small dragon with glee. "But, if you insist, you may continue!"
C'mon, thought Yamcha to himself. You'd better do something soon, Tenshinhan.
Tenshinhan stopped for a moment, clutching his chest and breathing hard, eyes tightly closed. He had managed to escape to an island near the Kame House in the midst of Haste Shenron's assault on Krillin and Yamcha.
He knew he didn't have long. He sat down on the grass and concentrated. This was what he'd trained years for. Meditating silently, he eventually picked up a mental image of the ongoing battle. His third eye glowing intensely, Tenshinhan saw Haste Shenron's movements before he made them. Immediately he saw the beast's next move.
Yamcha! he called out. Punch as hard as you can! Three o'clock!
Yamcha didn't think; he just thrust his fist out to his right, at the instant that Haste Shenron passed the spot. The dragon reeled, and hit the ground with a loud thud. Instantly he stood back up, his left cheek bruised.
"Ow!" he yelled. "How did you hit me! Ohh, you'll pay for this!" He disappeared.
Yamcha! Lift up your knee! NOW! Yamcha caught Haste Shenron under the chin.
Krillin! Ki blast straight below! Krillin fired; the dragon shrieked and brushed off his back.
"This is impossible!" he yelled in agony. "My movements cannot be detected!" Immediately he was off again; Tenshinhan noticed that he didn't move with quite the same speed as before.
All right, now double team him! he called. Yamcha, you punch straight in front of you, and Krillin, catch him with your foot when he hits you! They prepared to comply.
Just as Yamcha thrust out his fist, Haste Shenron had him around the waist from behind. "Not this time!" he yelled. "I won't be so predictable now!"
In the same instant, both Tenshinhan and Krillin yelled "Now! Taiyo-ken!" There was a flash of light, and Haste Shenron stumbled backward, clutching his eyes.
Grab him! cried Tenshinhan, as Krillin and Yamcha held the dragon down with all the strength they had.
Uub was being forced toward certain death. Every instant he got closer to the live wire, closer to a terrible fate. There was no way to escape from the living bubble...was there?
"Here it comes!" cackled Oceanus Shenron, preparing to release Uub.
Uub shot out one finger and fired a solid rope of ki. If this was successful...yes! The rope burst through the surface of the bubble and wrapped itself around the exposed part of the wire. Oceanus Shenron forced Uub out of him, but there was no longer any danger. Uub swung on the rope and landed lightly on the ground.
Oceanus Shenron came to a halt in midair. "What was that!" he screamed.
Uub smiled widely. "Like it?" he asked. "I call it the Kisaku. I only just perfected it a couple of years ago. It comes in handy in situations like this."
Oceanus Shenron was practically foaming at the mouth. "That's the stupidest trick I've ever seen! And you're gonna go down twice as hard for it!" He shot toward Uub at his top speed.
Uub extended his finger again. "Kisaku!" Krillin and Yamcha held on to the struggling Haste Shenron, his wild thrashing threatening to tear their arms off. Krillin ground his teeth audibly as he fought to keep the dragon at bay; Yamcha was sweating profusely. But Haste Shenron's prowess lay in speed, not physical strength: he could not escape.
Tenshinhan landed softly on the ground, facing them. "This is it, Haste Shenron," he said calmly. "You should have known that you can't rely on one skill to win a battle."
"Shut up, you self-righteous bastard!" screamed the dragon, spitting hard into Tenshinhan's third eye.
"Argh! That's it!" yelled Tenshinhan, putting the tips of his fingers together in front of his face.
"Ten!" grunted Krillin, gesturing toward the two-star Dragonball in Haste Shenron's chest. "Be careful!"
"KIKOHO!" yelled Tenshinhan, firing the extra-concentrated blast out of his hands like a cannon. It struck its target in the stomach, knocking Krillin and Yamcha to the ground in the process. They glanced back up, and saw Haste Shenron's legs on the ground. Lying a few feet away was his torso. The mid-section that had connected them was destroyed. Haste Shenron gave a last, shuddering cough, and closed his eyes. The Dragonball glinted in the sunlight.
Uub's Kisaku whipped through the air, wrapping itself around Oceanus Shenron's arm and slamming him to the ground. The dragon gave a mighty splash as he hit; the droplets of water flew back up and gathered. Oceanus Shenron looked livid.
"Ooh, you're gonna get it now, kid!" he yelled, shooting several high-pressure water jets from his fingertips. Uub dove to his left and evaded all but one of them. Oceanus Shenron's eyes glinted. He cackled loudly and dove.
Recovering from his hit, Uub only saw the incoming attack at the last moment. He had no choice but to take the impact. He spasmed as he was hit in the stomach. Oceanus Shenron kept attacking, and Uub was unable to counterattack. Drawing his feet back, he managed to plant them firmly under the dragon's chest, and kicked with all his might.
Oceanus Shenron flew off of Uub, who seized the moment. "Kisaku!" he cried, shooting another rope. This one wrapped itself around the dragon's arms and chest, right over the Dragonball. After he came back to his senses, Oceanus Shenron looked down at the position he was in. His face blanched.
Uub grinned broadly. "Thought so," he said. "You can't go liquid on me when I've got the Dragonball trapped, can you? This should be easy." He threw his hands behind his head, and a large ball of ki formed. "Sorry it had to be this abrupt, but I'd better get back to Gohan's house."
"Nnngh!" grunted Oceanus Shenron as he struggled vainly to move. As Uub threw the ball at him, he expelled a final beam from his mouth, before it was overtaken by Uub's superior might. In a blinding flash, Oceanus Shenron fell to the ground, smoking. He was dead.